The horror and wonder of how wasps build their nests in your home

SPRING is here, and that means animals are now coming out of hibernation… and not just the cuddly, furry ones. Among those waking up after a long winter’s sleep round about now are queen wasps, who emerge to build new nests where their larvae can hatch. The downside is that those nests can be made in places you really wouldn’t want them to be, as I found out last autumn. My “waspish” encounter began when I visited my elderly parents and my mother asked if I could buy a wasp spray as there were quite a few of the blighters in a bedroom, crawling around close to the radiator.

She initially presumed they had got in through a window, but on opening a rarely-used clothes wardrobe, built into the eaves, she got quite a shock.

It was the size and the colour of the thing that made the shivers start. A ghostly, grey construction, about 20 inches long and six inches deep.

Wasps were hovering around the nest and there were clearly discernible entry points.

After the feeling of revulsion had subsided, one began to look at the whole thing a little differently. You had to give the insects credit for what they had built – even if you wished they had built it elsewhere.

I decided to do some research. I consulted my hefty New Larousse Encyclopedia ofAnimal Life, which up to then had been gathering copious dust on my bookshelves.

“The nest is built of carton,” it explained on page 151. “A cardboard-like material composed mainly of wood fibres mixed with saliva to form a pulp that is applied in strips with the mandibles and allowed to dry. Each nest consists of about six horizontal combs (in cells of which the larvae are reared), joined by vertical pillars and enclosed in an outer envelope.”

Isn’t that something? Whoever would have thought wasps were such skilled engineers? The British Pest Control Association (BPCA), while describing wasps as “one of Britain’s most feared and potentially aggressive pests”, nevertheless acknowledges that their nests are “amazing pieces of architecture”.

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A young queen starts to create a nest for her forthcoming brood (Image: William Attard McCarthy / Getty Images)

Its website informed me that the largest wasps’ nest ever recorded was in New Zealand, measured just over 12 feet long and was probably made by German wasps. Not wasps that had flown all the way from Berlin to show off their building talents in the Antipodes, but Vespula germanica, a species which is found all over the world and is native to Britain. Apparently it can be differentiated from the common wasp (Vespula vulgaris), by a triangle of black spots on its face.

I learned that seven different species of wasp live in Britain. The good news, though, is that only the females sting. Well, let’s be thankful for small mercies.

Incredibly, wasps’ nests can contain as many as 5,000 adults in late summer, with up to 300 eggs being produced each day.

Although it was October, the weather had been very mild and the idea of me going into the cupboard and scraping the thing off into a black plastic bin bag was becoming increasingly unappealing. Particularly after I read that nests have “look out” sentries who alert their comrades that someone is coming.

“The problem is that a social wasp in distress emits a pheromone that sends nearby colony members into a defensive, stinging frenzy,” explains the BPCA. How absolutely charming. I posted a picture of the nest on Twitter and asked the question: “What to do with a wasps’ nest this size at this time of year?” I kindly received more than 100 replies.

Some were highly encouraging. “They will all die soon.The nest will just rot.They won’t come back in,” said one.

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Neil Clark dealing with his wasps nest (Image: NC)

“Leave it. The workers have left and the queen will be dormant. Don’t kill for killing’s sake,” said another. One respondent said “Charge them rent.” Another advised: “Can be smoked away. However earth (clay) used by them for house construction is quite tasty (earthy flavour) being highly refined and liked by pregnant ladies of South Asian countries.”

The big ethical dilemma was this: did I want the nest and cocoons inside destroyed, or simply removed from the cupboard with the minimum of casualties? Wasp stings can be very harmful and so you don’t want to take any chances but, against that, they’ll only attack you if you attack them.

Wasps also fulfil a useful role in the ecosystem. “Anonymous” told me that mason wasps (I’d never heard of them), were good pollinators, if no bees are around. Wasps also eat a lot of garden pests.A green option with wasps’ nests was provided by “Anonymous”. “If you want to save the cocoons, cut the nest off and transfer them into a plastic container, add damp cotton and cover. Keep refrigerated until spring. In the spring make a hole for them to exit and place outside.” Darrin simply advised: “Flamethrower.”

I decided to call a professional “waspbuster”. I expected him to recommend expert disposal but he was very impartial. He said he could happily come out and remove the nest for £40, but that we would be able to do it ourselves, if we waited until after the first frost. “It’s usually about November 10 each year that they die out.”

But suppose a few hardier souls lingered until Christmas?Then £40 would look a snip.

Even though his job was pest control, you couldn’t help but sense that here, too, there was admiration for the way wasps went about their business.

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Neil found one of the results of this epic construction work in his parents’ eaves (Image: NC)

He explained how the queens leave the nest and find places in little crevices to hibernate during the winter. They are the only ones who survive. They wake up in the spring to build a new nest around Eastertime, and then their eggs hatch into larvae. The workers then keep making the nest bigger and bigger to accommodate the increased number of wasps.

To avoid nests in your house you need to make sure your roof is properly sealed, with no gaps for entry. It’s also a good idea to check cupboards and concealed spaces regularly, particularly in spring, when nests will only be the size of a golf ball.

Of course wasps are not the only uninvited guests your home might attract. I know someone who has recently found rats in their attic. Bed bugs, the Count Draculas of the insect world, are also important to keep out. My wife and I inadvertently transported some home from a hotel room in Germany in our suitcase.

They caused us considerable discomfort until one evening I saw one scurrying across the eiderdown. I am not a violent person but dispatching the little blood-sucker to the Hereafter was one of the more satisfying moments of my life.

Wasps’ nests though, as I found out, pose a quite different challenge. In the end we waited until late December to take down ours, which we did safely.

So my advice is to make sure you check your wardrobes at regular intervals now that spring is here, so you don’t get stung with a nasty surprise come the autumn.

source: express.co.uk